Is Log Haven Haunted?

Log Haven, in Millcreek Canyon, may have more than hauntingly good food. Around Halloween time, talk usually comes up that the place may, indeed, be haunted. Over the years, restaurant staff have reported seeing ghostly apparitions and hearing children’s singing and laughter, footsteps and other spooky noises.

But if Log Haven is really haunted, the spirits aren’t threatening or malevolent, according to  the restaurant’s general manager, Ian Campbell, and the owner, Margo Provost. I interviewed them several years ago for a Deseret News article.

Some people suspect one of the apparitions might be L.F. Rains, the steel baron who built the log hideaway in 1920 as a gift for his wife.  The property eventually passed to Stanley Sprouse, who converted it into a restaurant. By the late 1980s, it was in disrepair.  Provost bought it in 1994 and renovated it into the restaurant it is today.

While Provost was remodeling, she often stayed on the premises at night, and she witnessed certain signs of ghosts. She would say, “I believe my intentions are good, I’m here to restore this beautiful place, and I’m going to lie down now because I need some sleep, and I’m choosing to believe that you will protect me.”‘

Before Provost’s time, back in 1982, a double murder that took place in Log Haven’s driveway. According to the Deseret News clippings that I was able to find, Michael Patrick Moore fatally shot Jordan Rasmussen, who was going to replace him as the restaurant’s manager. Laundry truck driver Buddy Booth happened to drive up with a load of linens, and Moore killed him, too.  Moore was convicted of the deaths and in 2000 he hanged himself in his Utah State Prison cell.

But the spirits seen around Log Haven seem to be from the early 1900s, so Provost doesn’t think they are related to the murders.  Some things staff have reported:

– Sounds of children singing.

– A man in chef’s clothing in the dry storage area.

– Moaning sounds.

– A tall bearded man wearing a hat.

– A bathroom stall that suddenly began to rattle.

– The sound of ringing bells.

– The sounds of a young girl singing.

– Lights coming on after closing up and locking the restaurant for the night.

– The sight of a woman in Victorian clothing, and old boots with black laces.

– The figure of a child who ran into one of the servers, knocking the plates she was holding.

Neither Campbell nor Provost thinks there’s any cause for alarm. “I guess it’s part of my belief that we’re in alignment rather than at war with one another,” Provost told me. “We don’t have to judge any incident as good or bad — it just is.”